According to comedian Brendan Sagalov, on a good night the Carolines are so loud that “It’s like a jungle” from the stage.
On stage, it can also be a bit of a jungle.
That’s what happened when Amy Schumer decided to try out her upcoming “Saturday Night Live” monologue there.
He didn’t care that Sagalov was in the middle of his set or that his friends and family were there to see him. Schumer, she told The Post, rushed the stage and everyone pushed her. Sagalov accepted it with grace at the time, he recalled. But later, on his podcast, he made his true feelings clear: “It’s a really cool thing to do on my first set of headlines…”
He is one of many comedians sad to see Carolines Comedy Club close its doors. The venue, which has been located in Times Square for the past 30 years, will host its final set on New Year’s Eve. Owner Caroline Hirsch told The Post that her 10-year lease at 750 Seventh Avenue was due to “reset” the rent at the end of the year, but “my landlord felt he could get more for the space.”
Over the decades – including its former Soho and South Street waterfront locations – the club helped launch the careers of Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno and Billy Crystal, among others.
Some of the sharpest minds in the comedy game have made it a home away from home. And they knew how to fend off intrusive audience members.
It was when Jeff Garlin performed there in 2006 and a guy thought it was funny to make fun of a comic. Then, owner Caroline Hirsch This was reported by USA Today, “Suddenly from the back of the room you heard an Irishman grunt. It was Robin [Williams]. “Hey, you’re no match for this guy,” Jeff told the gossiper. He then introduced Robin and Robin took the stage.
Sagalov recalled a front-row audience member talking during his other headlining sets.
Michael Che Carolina.
John Stewart in Carolina.
Carolyns helped launch Jerry Seinfeld’s career.
Ilana Glazer in Carolina.
Bob Saget performing in Carolina.
Once upon a time, Robin Williams was embarrassed on the field.
“I told the guy to shut up and made the classic mistake of asking the crowd if they wanted him to shut up,” the comic said. “They kicked me out and told me to get off the stage. It ended with me cursing the audience. But Caroline was great about it: she didn’t say anything. Then he looked me in the eye? No. But who does?
Dave Chappelle once talked about shooting grass from the club’s goalie – by accident Idris Elba of previous fame.
After recovering from a car accident in 2016, Tracy Morgan held her own stand-up show in Carolina. doctor and hospital staff in the audience. The set ended with Morgan in tears and the medical staff hugging him. As reported in The Post, he told the crowd, “These are all people who saved my life. Applaud them.’
Two years ago, Pete Davidson admitted on stage he just finished rehab in Arizona.
Needing to make it funny, Davidson told that crowd that he promised not to kill himself until the Knicks won the championship. “Five more years,” he told himself.
Davidson was hilarious when he joked about drugs at Caroline’s. It was quite the opposite when Jo Gorga of The Real Housewives of New Jersey fame performed. enabled Drugs in the Carolines. Last year, the husband of housewife Melissa Gorga appeared on stage at the club, and the shocked audience stared at him. He accused “Sudafed and some scotch“. It was so bad that Melissa dragged him off the stage before embarrassing himself.
Alcohol will definitely come in handy on closing night, when performers get a special treat.
“They took us all out of the back of the club and it put us in Times Square,” Carrie Coddett told The Post. “We got to stand there and watch the ball drop. I grew up in New York. So it’s a dream come true for me. But when you’re a comedian, when you’re performing on New Year’s Eve, you’re very drunk and you can’t remember anything.
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